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Memorial Library Staff Information

Vacation & Sick Leave

Vacation & Sick Leave

Although the Berry College Faculty-Staff Manual states that all requests for leave in excess of eight hours for non-exempt employees and three working days for exempt employees must be made in writing, the college allows department heads to develop other procedures for vacation and routine use of sick leave as long as all employees within the department are treated consistently. For Memorial Library staff, those procedures follow.

Planned Absences

  • Plan leave as far in advance as possible, following a general guideline of attempting to provide more advance notice for longer periods of leave.
  • Take the needs of the Library and of your colleagues into consideration when planning time off, and ensure that colleagues have been consulted in advance.
  • For absences of more than a week, an advance consultation with the director is expected.
  • If you will be away from work for a week or more, send a courtesy reminder to the full library staff at least a day or two in advance and set an out-of-office response on your e-mail and voice mail accounts.
  • Note planned absences on your Outlook calendar and on the LibCal Vacation calendar as far in advance as possible. ​
  • Keep use of leave within available current balances. Non-exempt employees are permitted to have a 48-hour negative vacation balance with supervisor approval.
  • A staff member who has a health-related absence of more than three consecutive days must contact Human Resources for FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) documentation.

HOWEVER

We have agreed to maintain a minimum staffing level of 2 staff members Monday-Friday until 5pm and 1 staff member after 5pm until closing Sunday-Friday. If your absence will result in fewer than the required number staff members on duty, follow these guidelines when planning in advance to be away from work:

  • Arrange for someone else to work by contacting colleagues in person, posting a request on Teams, or emailing the Memorial Library staff distribution list.*
  • If a volunteer is not found within 3 days of your planned time off, consult the director.
  • Once an arrangement has been made, let everyone know the details.

 

*All Memorial Library staff members are expected to participate in filling and substituting for evening shifts.

Unplanned Absences

Unplanned Absences

In most circumstances there will be sufficient other staff members and student staff to cover your responsibilities when you unexpectedly need to be away:

  • Send a daily notification of your absence or need to leave work early -- use Teams, email the Memorial Library staff distribution list, or call or text colleagues and ask them to share the information.
  • If possible, update your Outlook calendar to note your unavailability.
  • A staff member who has a health-related absence of more than three consecutive days must contact Human Resources for FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) documentation.

HOWEVER

If you are the only staff member scheduled for a particular shift, follow these guidelines when you can give less than a full day of advance notice:

  • If Level 4 or 5 student staff members are available to cover your full shift, and at least one additional student staff member is also scheduled for the full shift, it is not necessary to find a substitute. Verify with the student that they are comfortable with the situation. Notify Morgan and Sherre of the situation as soon as possible.
  • If sufficient student staff members are not available to cover your full shift, call until you reach someone in person who can make arrangements for someone to come in, beginning with Solim ► Sherre ► Jeremy.